Before the start of Tour de France Femmes, Dutch team SD Worx-Protime had preached caution over their goals at the race, with neither Lotte Kopecky nor Anna van der Breggen talking up their GC chances.
At the end of day one, the once-superteam look to be in disarray, with Kopecky having crossed the line over a minute down after dropping on the final ascent and her own team manager admitting that he had no idea what happened to the world champion in Plumelec.
The Tour's opening stage finished atop the Côte de Cadoudal, concluding a challenging and hilly 79km run from Vannes. SD Worx-Protime hadn't been in control of the peloton during the previous two ascents of the 1.7km, 6.2% climb, and on the last, it was up to Van der Breggen to salvage some pride, finishing seventh, five seconds down on winner Marianne Vos (Visma-Lease A Bike).
Earlier this week, Kopecky, who finished down in 43rd at 1:04, had downplayed her GC chances in France after suffering back problems at the recent Giro d'Italia Women. She didn't speak to reporters after the finish, though team manager Danny Stam did attempt to explain the situation to Sporza.
"It's clear Lotte didn't have the legs. This wasn't what we were hoping for. Lorena and Anna were going to prepare the sprint for Lotte, but she wasn't where she should have been," Stam said, before saying that Kopecky apparently didn't communicate her lack of form to the team during the stage.
"We didn't receive any indication that Lotte wasn't feeling good. That's why this is a surprise to us," Stam said.
"We'll have to analyse where it went wrong and why she didn't communicate that she didn't have the legs or why it wouldn't work out for her.
"This climb doesn't lie. The GC wasn't an option for Lotte anyway. Now, that is completely off the table."
Speaking to Cyclingnews and Cycling Weekly earlier this week, Kopecky said. "We still have to see how [my back] will respond in the race," adding that she would be happy to come away from the Tour with a stage victory.
That dream now appears to be in tatters following a tough start to the Tour. Success in the mountainous second half of the race looks to be off the table, given Kopecky's back issue – if that was the problem on stage 1.
The team will likely now look to refocus their efforts around Van der Breggen, who is making her Tour debut. She finished up among the leaders in Plumelec, level on time with Puck Pieterse (Fenix-Deceuninck) and two seconds off Demi Vollering (FDJ-Suez).
European champion Lorena Wiebes, a strong 16th on a stage thought too tough for her, will also be in the mix for the sprint finishes over the next three days.
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